MLB commissioner Rob Manfred made the trek out to Sacramento on Wednesday, in a visit that was not disclosed ahead of time. He was there to tour the in-progress upgrades being made to Sutter Health Park ahead of the A’s arrival at the facility in March when they open up their home schedule against the Chicago Cubs. That game, the A’s announced, is sold out.
The Sacramento Bee was able to get ahold of a recording from a luncheon that was held, featuring A’s owner John Fisher, Manfred, A’s radio announcer Ken Korach, and River Cats and Kings owner Vivek Ranadivé. According to the Bee, Manfred said in the audio that he will be remembering the population of the greater Sacramento area.
“I’m not going to forget the 10 million people.”
He also complimented Ranadivé as being an owner that is in touch with his community and how that “makes a huge difference in terms of the long-term success of the franchise.” Could this have been an indirect dig at Fisher? Fans in Oakland would sure think so, but given that Manfred has protected the A’s owner every step of the way during the relocation process, it’s unlikely.
But the real meat and potatoes quote was another compliment for Ranadivé.
“You got a great basketball program going here, with a really creative owner who’s had a great franchise,” Manfred said. “You know, it kind of follows on. He’s going to be a leg up when it comes to baseball.”
“He’s going to be a leg up” doesn’t entirely make sense, but what Manfred was likely going for was that he’s going to have a leg up when it comes to baseball. Did he mean when it comes to the A’s being in town and Fisher working with him to create a successful product, or was he speaking of Ranadivé having a leg up when it comes time for the league to expand?
There’s no definitive answer to be given here, since expansion is still years away at best. Manfred has long said that he wouldn’t consider expansion until the A’s and Tampa Bay Rays ballparks were figured out, and as of right now neither team has a shovel in the ground. We’ll have to likely wait for at least that much progress to be made before the expansion talks truly begin.
It’s also possible that Manfred will no longer be the commissioner by that time, with his retirement expected to come in January of 2029.
So far Sacramento has done a terrific job of clearing the hurdles set in front of them when it comes to showing support for the A’s coming to town. The biggest hurdle, at least for he fans, is going to be maintaining that support for a number of years while the team is playing at Sutter Health. The rest of the work will need to be done by an ownership group and the local municipalities to generate the funds needed for a new ballpark.
Given the statement from Manfred on Wednesday, it would appear that they’re at least in the running to land a club.
